October/November PQB 25

Jeremy Bury, Miracle Man in New YorkJeremy Bury, the gloriouswinner of the New York tournament in a final withDick Jaspers

26 PQB October/November

USBA Officers

PresidentMazin Shooni Nashua, NH248-910-4466

SecretaryTom PaleyFenton, MO636-861-3437

TreasurerMerrill HughesHuntington Station, NY631-338-9698

Ricardo CarrancoLos Angeles, CA323-490-8075

Victor CuzziMiami, FL786-366-7293

Pedro PiedrabuenaSan Diego, CA213-458-3950

James WatsonBronx, NY347 255-4330

By Frits Bakker

August 1-6th NEW YORK - The firstmajor triumph in the career ofJeremy Bury can be highlighted as a

world-class victory. The 35-year-old French-man defeated in New York in the final of theOpen Verhoeven not only Dick Jaspers, thewinner last year, but also Frederic Caudron,Eddy Merckx and Semih Saygıner. The im-pressive series of wins brought him a hugesuccess in New York, the $9.000 dollar topprize and the greatest moment in his sportinglife. The glorious winner in the famous CaromCafé, in a field with so many big names, sur-vived a marathon of matches from Monday inwhich he showed his mental strength andovercame the hard battle on the final day. Thewinning carom in the final against DickJaspers (40-32 in 16) was followed by an emo-tional release. Minutes later, after the joy andhappiness, the Frenchman returned to earth.Jeremy Bury has never been a real winner in

his young career so far, apart from the greatsuccesses with the famous Agipi team. , Ireally wanted to get rid of the reputation of alosing finalist’’, he said right after the cere-mony. Three times Bury lost a World Cupfinal, once the final of the Agipi tournamentagainst Sung-Won Choi. In the Carom Café,on Saturday, with full stands and an enthusias-tic audience, it was the day of the revenge andthe recognition. Jeremy Bury joined thegallery of greats in the New York tournament.The Frenchman’s name now flaunts on thehonour roll, succeeding Dick Jaspers and

amongst others Frederic Caudron and Torb-jörn Blomdahl.He earned this victory fully with wins on

the final day over Frederic Caudron and DickJaspers. , I had to put up two tough fights, firstagainst Caudron and then against Jaspers, whocame back in the match and was dangerouslyclose at the end. I kept my concentration andmanaged to score on the right moments.’’ Heconcluded, I’m so happy, gosh... what a fabu-lous and unforgettable moment in my career.’’Prior to the final, two Belgians from the top

five in the world were stopped in the semi-finals, in which Dick Jaspers defeated EddyMerckx by a big margin and Jeremy Buryperhaps played the best three innings of hiscareer against Frederic Caudron. The contestturned into a fabulous fight for the Frenchman,who was 33-23 down, found his trance andscored runs of 10 (33-33), 5 (38-33) andfinally two precious ones to decide the match40-36 in 21 innings.Frederic Caudron, earlier on the final day

winner against Haeng Jik Kim (40-16 in 19)

October/November PQB 27

and Tayfun Tasdemir (40-39 in 22), had to bow to the playerwith whom he celebrated successes with the Agipi team foryears. The Belgian number one in the world couldn’t repeatwhat he did against Tasdemir (with five to the finish after theTurk missed his match ball) and had to compete with Merckxfor third place. Eddy Merckx, who twice was the losing finalistin New York, reached his breaking point in the semi-final aftertwo strong performances against Torbjörn Blomdahl (40-30 in22) and in the quarter final against Forthomme, in which hecould not show his great quality this tournament: the highruns on crucial moments. Therefore, Forthomme had nochance at all, when Merckx scored a 10 and a 9 and finished40-24 in 14 innings. When those feared breakaways didn’tshow up against Dick Jaspers, the Dutch/Belgian derby was astruggle without tension, because Jaspers ran away between thesixth and twelfth inning to 33-16 and then decided the match40-16 in 14 innings.The match for third place between the two Belgians, a real

classic in three cushion, was won by Eddy Merckx on the line:he bested Caudron 40-38 in 28 innings. Martin Horn took thefifth place by a victory over Tayfun Tasdemir 40-35 in 20innings.The highlights of the tournament were the high level

matches of Haeng Jik Kim (9 innings for 40 caroms, 4.444),Dick Jaspers (9 innings for 35 caroms, 3.889), Martin Horn,Semih Saygıner and Frederic Caudron, 35 points in 10 (3.500average), the top runs of 19 and 17 of Tasdemir and the 18 ofSayginer and the stunning comeback from Martin Horn on theinternational stage. The German, who announced he wouldplay the World Cup in Hurghada, demonstrated in New Yorkthat he could still perform on the highest level. The evidencecould be seen in the ranking after the playoffs with fourteenplayers, where Martin Horn with 1.959 was the best player onaverage.Raymond Ceulemans (79) was one of the players for whom

the public came to the Carom Cafe. Watching the master inthe tournament where he fought so many heroic battles in thepast was worth a big round of applause. Three wins were notgood enough to reach the final round. The respect for the phe-nomenon was no less.The Open Verhoeven attracted hundreds of spectators to

the Carom Cafe in the days of the final matches. Many playerspraised the atmosphere and the format of the tournament.Tournament director Charlie Brown deserves a huge respectfor the way he led the long marathon of matches to the end.

1st $9,0002nd $6,0003rd $4,0004th $3,5005th $3,2006th $3,0007th $2,8008th $2.5009th $2,200

10th $2,00011th $1,80012th $1,60013th $1,40014th $1,30015th $1,20016th $1,00017-20 $60021-25 $50026-40 $300

Hi-Run $250Best Game $250

Around-the-table bank choices are very difficult, somost people would shoot a double-the-rail shot here(long-short-long). The diagrammed path is a much

better solution though, if you take the time to look for it. Thedouble-the-rail is not sitting that well, as you basically haveonly a half-ball target (the bottom side of theyellow). The diagrammed shot however has at leastfour different ways to score. Yes, the hit is a bitharder, but the red is close to the corner, and there’sa large margin for error.

You want to hit this a touch less than mediumspeed. Don’t baby this, for two reasons. You need tohit it hard enough to keep the English on the fourthand fifth (and maybe sixth) rails, which opens thepath, making for a bigger target. Position wise, it isalso good to drive the red to the opposite short railand back to this half of the table, where you have agood chance for a nice short angle.

The normal way to miss this is by hitting thered too thin, so try and hit as much of the red as you can. The

red is so close to the rail (about a third of aball) that it’s very hard to hit it too full. You may think thisshot is difficult, but it’s not. Besides, it’s pretty, and you’ll enjoyshooting it.

28 PQB October/November

Choose the Big Ball over the Obvious Showby Phil PanzeraContributing Writer

October/November PQB 29

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Upcoming EventsRushville - Professor Q-Ball Fall 2016 3-Cushion TournamentPlayer Meeting + Pomp & Circumstance - 6:00 p.m. October13, 2016Play Begins - 7:00 p.m. Thursday October 13, 2016Questions: Gary Eake – Call or TEXT – 920.420.1304

Dick Takano Memorial Open TournamentHosted by the BPOE 174 Elks Club, Tacoma, WADecember 2-3rd 2016 Deadline for Entry fee $75 is November 28thEd Brasfield 253 468-9839 or Email him atBfasteddie41@aol.com

President’s Desk

My last message described the very exciting news thatthe USBA had reached agreement with the CasinoDel Sol Resort in Tucson, Arizona, to host USBA 3-

cushion tournaments in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Now, it is my pleasure to announce that the USBA andGabriels have entered into a sponsorship partnership. Gabrielshas become the official title sponsor for the USBA for 2017,2018 and 2019. As part of this arrangement, Gabriels willsupply tables for the tournaments at the Casino del Sol Resort.What could be finer than playing billiards on the best tablesduring the day and then relaxing at the resort facilities duringthe evening?

Gabriels has been a loyal supporter of the USBA over the last 5or 6 years. We are lucky to have that support, and our currentsponsorship agreement assures that Gabriels will play a signifi-cant role in the development of carom billiards in the UnitedStates in the near future. We hope to have a further announce-ment about Gabriels by the end of the year.

Many of you know that the USBA is having a membershipdrive. Until October 31th, there is a 50% discount on theannual membership dues. You may purchase a one-year mem-bership for $25.00 or a three-year membership for $75.00. It isno secret that we are trying to increase our membership andbuild up our bank account because we have great plans toexpand billiards over the coming years. Go to the USBAwebsite for details: www.usba.net.

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1. NEW ~ Advanced DPM System Segments. The next steps to fourand more rail shots You will need the “ Doctoral “ shown above tostart your studies. These Guides and graphs will give you the full in-formation to play at your best. You will receive over forty full pageadvance system graphs and their fully written explanation of how to

use them over 120 pages in all. By e-mail $35.00 By regular mail bound copies $ 55.00

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4. Tape or DVD Ball to Ball caroms [Straight Rail] 73 min $35.00I also give clinics, private lessons on Carom billiards.

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30 PQB October/November

On a Personal Note

Afew days ago, I turned 59. You could say that I'm akid in the eyes of Raymond Ceulemans, and a seniorcitizen from Haeng Jik Kim's point of view. Just days

before my birthday, I had a TIA (transient ischemic attack),which is like a mini-stroke. The unpleasant effects wore offquickly; my neurologist has me on medication, and I feel finenow.

Makes you feel very mortal, I can tell you. You take so manythings for granted: the ability to speak, for instance. Take thataway for just a day, and you'll appreciate it for what it's worth.If only one or two of the 640 muscles in your body malfunc-tion, you can forget about enunciation.

Or about billiards, for that matter. I'll confess that I had thatthought on my mind for most of the day. Can I play billiardstomorrow, next week, this season? It looks like I can, butthat's not the only reason I should consider myself lucky.

Most senior players will recognize this, and it has little ornothing to do with our playing strength. We are over the hill,and we are discovering that life is not so bad on the other side.It has its perks. We can relax a bit. For many years, each of uson our own level, we have tried to become thebest player we could be. We keptsetting the bar higher, until wesimply couldn't jump it anymore.And now the pressure is off.

We have not won World Cups,maybe we've never even com-peted in one. But in our finesthour, we played inspired, magical 3-cushion. That hour lasted onlytwelve minutes, but boy, did it feelgood. We were never more alive than with a cue in ourhands. It was our paint brush, our racket, our camera, our bat,our pencil, our 3-iron, our guitar, our gun.

That is really what a cue is: destiny in your own hands. And now we are 50, or 60 or 70. We are still pedaling on a

bike, and the race is all around us. But we know we are notgoing to win it, and that's okay. We have time to look aroundus, and see the beauty of the land. We still fit on that saddle.The mountain does not scare us, we've climbed it so manytimes. And we love the road, probably more than when wewere young and our eyes were firmly on the prize.

I am one of those guys who is not going to win racesanymore (not that I won that many in the past, mind you).And frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. My average will gosouth in the upcoming years: fine with me. I will be givinghandshakes, far more often than receiving them. And - asmuch as I dislike losing - I intend to love every minute of it.

Why is that? Because at some point, winning matches stopsbeing your motivation to play billiards. How well or howpoorly the other guy plays, seems to lose much of its relevance.

You find reasons to play, deeper inside ofyou. You against the other guy: thatwill fade. You against the ballsand the table: that stays. Thegame has nestled itself into yourbloodstream and nervous system,it has become part of who youare. You need the endorphinsfrom your good shots so bad, you'll

put up with the aggravation from yourmuck-ups. You have the incurable disease called

billiarditis, and it causes an itch you can't stop scratching.

Some good players say goodbye to the game, at a certain age.They don't want to see their level go down, they think thatplaying poorly is more painful than to not play at all. I under-stand and respect that, but my choice will be different.

I am going to play until I can't lift the cue anymore. If I stopplaying 3-cushion, I'll still write about it. If I'm all donewriting, I'll still watch it. And others will create the magic forme.

October/November PQB 31

Professor-Q-Ball’s 3-Cushion Shot Contest“The quickest way to get new playersto play the game of 3-CushionIs to reach out to pool players.”On Labor Day Weekend, The Rack in Memphis, Tn. held

their 5th Annual 3-Cushion Shot Contest. A $20 entry alsoincluded table time and $250 was added money. It was playedon a Gabriel table with Simonis cloth. All diagram shots wereplaced on the Racks bulletin board for several weeks to givethe players a chance to practice the shots if they chose to,giving the room an opportunity for extra table time.Paul Frankel, tournament director, went over all the rules

before the start of the Shot Contest and thanked all 7 contest-ants for accepting the CHALLENGE.

3-Cushion Shot Contest Format:There were 8 diagram shots. Each player shoots each of 8

shots 3 times (24 shots total). Each shot is worth 2 points (48pts max) and the total points wins. Three small round dots(stick-ons) are placed on the table, which represented theexact placement of the dia-grammed shots. All players hadthe same shot and same place-ment of the 3 balls. Then thedots are removed and replaced forthe next shot selection.Special Note: After each shot

a player takes a straight railcarom shot as the balls come torest. If they make it, it is worth 1point and added to their previousscores. It was not only an excit-

ing time for the pool players, but very funny at times to see theplayers missing by just a little bit and listening to some of theirremarks. Half way through the event the shots were tallied sothe players knew their score. Payout out 3 places. 1st Bob Hunter $225 2nd Gary Baker $903rd Paul Spain $75

George Theobald Passes August 14,2016The first time I met George and his goofy grin was I think at the USBA Nationals at Chris’s in the mid 1990’s

and the last time was at the just concluded Verhoeven Open in NYC. In the years between practically every billiardtournament I attended Georgie Porgie, as I called him, was there supporting the game that he loved so dearly andplaying his heart out. He was not a great player but his knowledge and love of the game transcended that. Manytimes, as I passed through Chicago, he put me up for a night of billiards and the libations of our choice, as he didwith many others, whether champions or just schmucks like me. I loved listening to his stories of Lennie Bruce andall the other outlaws he had associated with over the years during the course of many meals we ate and the manygood times we had together. He had a brilliant mind and could and would discourse on any subject you cared to bring up. In many areas we disagreed philosophi-

cally but even so, worked together over the years attempting to promote billiards in this country, a task we agreed was almost impossible,but he soldiered on despite all. Many times we talked philosophy over the phone for hours at a time trying to solve the problems of theworld and failed miserably to come to terms. He was a dear man, an outlaw; I will miss him and his goofy grin as I know many othersout there will also. Knowing I will never see him again saddens me, but I will never forget him and his kindness and love of the game.Dennis Dieckman